1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved smoker apparatus that is preferably fueled with a gaseous fuel source such as butane or propane supplied for example via a pressurized canister, hose and regulator. More particularly, the present invention relates to a smoker apparatus of improved configuration that provides a vertically extended cabinet having a plurality of shelves for containing food items that are to be smoked, a pair of pans that are mounted under the plurality of shelves, a front door that enables access to the plurality of shelves and a side door that is much smaller than the front door and that is mounted near the bottom of the cabinet wherein the side door can be opened to enable access to a water pan and a wood chips pan both of which are slidably mounted upon a wire frame having upper and lower spaced apart rails, one set of rails for supporting the water pan and a lower set of rails for supporting the pan of wood chips.
2. General Background of the Invention
Many smokers are commercially available that are used for smoking food items such as poultry, beef, sausage or the like. Some of these smokers are vertically extended cabinets that have a front door and that have water pans and wood chip pans for generating smoke during use. Several such vertically extended cabinet type smokers having shelves for holding food items can be seen at Cabelas online catalog (www.cabelas.com).
The following U.S. Patents are incorporated herein by reference:
TABLEU.S. PAT. NO.TITLEISSUE DATE4,721,037Smoker Apparatus for An OutdoorJan. 26, 1988Barbecue Grill4,869,163Smoking Unit for Gas GrillsSep. 26, 19895,163,359Cooking ApparatusNov. 17, 19925,891,498Barbecue Grill Smoker AttachmentApr. 6, 1999and Method of Smoking FoodProducts6,012,381Convection Meat CookerJan. 11, 20006,626,089Cooking and Smoking ApparatusSep. 30. 20032005/0034716Portable Compact Cooking ApplianceFeb. 17, 20052005/0121018Combination Barbecue Grill, SmokerJun. 9, 2005and Fireplace